Timber conveyor

ABSTRACT

Timber conveyor, comprising a conveyor which moves the timber forward in a transverse position and in its continuation an oblique conveyor, on which the timber has both a velocity component in the original transporting direction and a velocity component parallel to the longitudinal direction of each piece of timber. The invention is particularly characterized in that the oblique conveyor has been provided with elements acting upon the ends of the pieces of timber, which elements in the oblique conveyor travel along a curved path so that at the moment when the piece of timber is released the piece of timber has a nonexistent or at least nearly non-existent velocity component in its longitudinal direction.

United States Patent 91 Rysti t451March 13, 1973 TIMBER CONVEYOR I Primary Examiner -Evon c, Blunk [76] Inventor: Alpo Rysti, Frisansintie 22, Frisans, Assistant Exqmmer john.ny Cherry 1 Attorney-R1chards & Geler Finland [22] Filed: Dec. 15, 1970 [57] ABSTRACT [21] App]. No.: 98,322 Timber conveyor, comprising a conveyor which moves the timber forward in a transverse position and in its continuation an oblique conveyor, on which the "198/20 timber has both a velocity component in the original t d t [581 a Field of Search 31, 33 R, 33 AA, 12???? in? iolf iiufiiiiii" dilfinii oi ali gieiili 198/33 AB, 75, 89, 179, 185; 143/49, 92 93 timber. The invention is particularly characterized in that the oblique conveyor has been provided with ele- [56] References Clted ments acting upon the ends of the pieces of timber, UNITED STATES PATENTS which elements in the oblique conveyor travel along a curved path so that at the moment when the piece of 3,033,341 5/1962 Cromeens ..198/20R timber is released the piece of timber has a non-ex- 3,204,756 9/1965 Lesch Wl98/l79 istent or at least nearly non-existent velocity com- 2,920,737 l/l960 Engleson et al. .198/29 ponem in its longitudinal direction 2,912,093 11/1959 Lauck ..l98/32 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures i 17 6 if 4 5 o. 8 II 1 o. l n 0 n1 in! i- 7 i 1 J U i 5 PATENTEUHAR 1 3191s sneer 20F 2 FIG. 2

FIG.3

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velocity component in the original direction of transport and also a velocity component in the longitudinal direction of each piece of timber.

Conveyors of this kind are ,used in particularly grea number e.g. in the sorting of sawn timber and in its cross-cutting operation to given lengths most nearly corresponding to the original lengths of the pieces.

Such conveyors are also employed for handling stocks.

' The greatest detrimental factor-in previously known devices of this kind has been their functional slowness, as a result of which the timber-handling capacity has remained low. The low handling capacity has most of all, in these conveyors, been influenced by the design of the oblique conveyor employed becauseit has not been possible to increase itsspeedfarenough. Even atthe transfer speeds of the oblique conveyor which are used nowadays, one is oftencompelled e.g. in the assembling of sawn timber packages to be content with a compromise, which meansthatit is accepted that in the sawn timberjpackage the ends of the sawn timber its end the unacceptable, e.g. rough-edged, portion. The person 3, again, gives for each piece of timber,

with the aid of a register device, a pulse specifying its quality and length, this pulse to travel along with the piece of timber throughout the period of its stay on the conveyor. As register devices, one may use e.g. electromechanical selector devices or computer units previously known 'in themselves, which operate in I synchronism with the engagement dogs 2.

conveyor 6 has been synchronized with both parts of pieces are not'aligned, which is causedby the fact that conveyor to be such that itno longer constitutes a hottle-neck which would present an obstacle to raising the handling speed of the other parts of the conveyor. The invention is mainly characterized in that the oblique conveyor has been provided with elements acting upon the end of the pieces of timber, which elements-on the oblique conveyor travel along a curved path so that at the moment when any given piece of timber is'released ithas a non-existent or at least nearly non-existent velocity component in its longitudinal direction. 7 v V The invention is described in greater detail in the following, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawing and to one embodimentexample of a conveyor according tothe invention, shown in this drawing.

FIG. 1 presents the sawn timber conveyor schematically and as viewed from above.

FIG. 2 shows a section along the line II-II in FIG. 1, and

, FIGS. 3 and 4 correspondingly show enlarged, more detailedsections taken along the lines III--III and IV- IVinFIG.l. I j

In the embodiment displayed in the drawing, the conveyor comprises a conveyor made of chains 11, which has been 'provided' with engagement dogs], which move the timber forward in the direction indicated by an arrow in FIG; 1. The sorting wo'rk is done by persons 3 and 4, who determine the quality of the piece of timber and the point or points at which it has to be cross-cut. The person 4 determines the cutting point of one end by moving each piece of sawn timber into a position in which the cross-cut saw 5 will remove from the principal conveyor 1, so that the piece of timber al- I ways remains between two consecutive engagement dogs 2. The grabbing elements7 move on the conveyor 6 in the manner shown in FIG. 1 along a curved path so that the piece of sawn timber has a velocitycomponent parallel [to its longitudinal direction which varies in its magnitude above the value zero. Those points of the oblique conveyor at which the longitudinal velocity component of the piece of sawn timber is non-existent are intended to coincide with those times at which the piece of timber will be set free from the grip of the elements 7, and the piece therefore: continues. its travel, carried onward by the second part of the principal conveyor. As a result of the specific shape of the path of conveyor 6, thepiece of sawn timber has then, already, a velocity component consistent with the direction of travel of the principal conveyor.

In FIGS. 2 to 4 an embodiment example has been shown, illustrating the kinds of grabbing elements that can be used in connection of the oblique conveyor6. Here, the grabbing elements consist of pincer-like devices, comprising a lever 9' operating as upper jaw and a lever l0 opera'ting as lower jaw. These have at their ends gripping bodies 11, which are free to turn about their attachment pin so that no torque -is imposed on the piece of timber clamped between them whenthe pincer-like device travelsalong its tortuous path in the conveyor 6. The conveyor 6 comprises a roller chain moving along a channel formed by a U section steel 8, and the said pincer-like devices have been attached to this roller chain, their low erjaw 10 having been made elastic in the manner seen in FIG. 4, bymea'ns of a compression spring 14, so that thedistance between the grabbingelements 11 may easily adapt itself to the thickness of the sawn timber pieces to be handled.

The end of the lever 9 has been provided with a roll 13, which in cooperation with a guide 12 of the kindseen'in FIG. I locks the pincer-like device so that the piece of sawn timber is impacted between-the gripping bodies I I at the initial end of the oblique conveyor 6.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate more closely the manner in which the piece of sawn timber is released from the like device. When the piece of sawn timber has arrived at an appropriate point on conveyor 6, the program stored by the person 3 in the register device furnishes a pulse, and a device 15, which may be e.g. electromagnetic, pneumatic or hydraulic, raises the roll .16, which then pushes against the bell crank lever 17, 18 provided in connection with the conveyor 6, whereby this lever turns in its pivot and its arm 18 is pressed downwardly, causing in its turn the roll 13 on the end of lever arm 9 to meet it and the lever arm 9 totur'n into the position indicated with dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 4, whereby the end of the piece of sawn timber is released from the pinch of the pincer-like device, and the piece of sawn timber willbe carried off by the second part of the principal conveyor.

It is immaterial in itself, from the viewpoint of the invention, what kind oftimber gripping devices are used on the oblique conveyor 6. For instance, if transportation of round timber is concerned, one may advantageously use spikes instead of the gripping bodies 11. The oblique conveyor may likewise differ even considerably from what has been presented above, as regards its design; the main point is, however, that the oblique conveyor moves the pieces of timber in their longitudinal direction so that always periodically the velocity component of the displacement of the timber piece in its longitudinal direction is non-existent, which moment is utilized in releasing the piece of timber from the grip of the oblique conveyor. The piece of timber has then noinertial movement whatsoever in its longitudinal direction, whereby the oblique conveyor may be operated at rather high speed. in the case illustrated by the drawing, the grabbing elements on the oblique conveyor-drag the pieces of timber by one end and in their longitudinal direction. Of course, the conveyor solution according'to the invention may be equally well realized by having the oblique conveyor 6 push the pieces of timber in their longitudinal direction. In that case, of course, the oblique con-veyor has to be placed in another manner'with reference to conveyor 1, that is, obliquely across the transport path of conveyor 1, whereby the pieces of timber transported by conveyor 1 will meet the oblique conveyor 6. In this embodiment it is not absolutely necessary for the oblique conveyor and modified even considerably without leaving the domain of the invention. It is merely essential that on the transport path of the oblique conveyor there occur points at which the longitudinal velocity component of the piece of timber transported by this conveyor in its longitudinal direction, and thus its inertial moment in this direction, is non-existent or at least nearly non-existent.

lclaim: l. A timber conveyor, comprising a first conveyor which moves the timber forward in a transverse position, an oblique conveyor connected with the first conveyor and onwhich oblique conveyor the timber has both a velocity'component in the transverse transporting direction and a velocity component parallel to the longitudinal direction of each piece of timber, endless conveying means on said oblique conveyor, elements located at a distance from each other on said endless conveying means, and said elements acting upon the ends of the pieces of timber and displacing them in to be provided with actual grabbing elements; it suffices if the conveyor has shoulders of some kind, which meet the ends of the pieces of timber.

In the design 'embodiment'presented, the pieces of I timber which leave the oblique conveyor will be transported further onward so that their ends on one side, in

' FIG. 1 the lower ends, are aligned- At some handling stages of timber the needmay also occur to transport pieces of timber, e.g. stocks or deals, so that the centerpoints of all pieces travel along the same line, in which their longitudinal direction, control means by which the end of the piece of timber can be set free from its connection with said elements into given, different positions in their longitudinal direction to be transported by the first conveyor alone, guiding means guiding the endless conveying means of the oblique conveyor in such manner that said elements travel along a periodically curved path so that at the moment when any piece of timber is. set free the piece of timber has a velocity component in its longitudinal direction which is zero or nearly zero, wherein the oblique conveyor is located adjacent said first conveyor and said elements on the endless conveying means comprise grabbing means which erigage the pieces of timber and pull them grabbing means are pincer-like devices comprising jaws which press against the end of the timber.

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1. A timber conveyor, comprising a first conveyor which moves the timber forward in a transverse position, an oblique conveyor connected with the first conveyor and on which oblique conveyor the timber has both a velocity component in the transverse transporting direction and a velocity component parallel to the longitudinal direction of each piece of timber, endless conveying means on said oblique conveyor, elements located at a distance from each other on said endless conveying means, and said elements acting upon the ends of the pieces of timber and displacing them in their longitudinal direction, control means by which the end of the piece of timber can be set free from its connection with said elements into given, different positions in their longitudinal direction to be transported by the first conveyor alone, guiding means guiding the endless conveying means of the oblique conveyor in such manner that said elements travel along a periodically curved path so that at the moment when any piece of timber is set free the piece of timber has a velocity component in its longitudinal direction which is zero or nearly zero, wherein the oblique conveyor is located adjacent said first conveyor and said elements on the endless conveying means comprise grabbing means which engage the pieces of timber and pull them in their longitudinal direction.
 1. A timber conveyor, comprising a first conveyor which moves the timber forward in a transverse position, an oblique conveyor connected with the first conveyor and on which oblique conveyor the timber has both a velocity component in the transverse transporting direction and a velocity component parallel to the longitudinal direction of each piece of timber, endless conveying means on said oblique conveyor, elements located at a distance from each other on said endless conveying means, and said elements acting upon the ends of the pieces of timber and displacing them in their longitudinal direction, control means by which the end of the piece of timber can be set free from its connection with said elements into given, different positions in their longitudinal direction to be transported by the first conveyor alone, guiding means guiding the endless conveying means of the oblique conveyor in such manner that said elements travel along a periodically curved path so that at the moment when any piece of timber is set free the piece of timber has a velocity component in its longitudinal direction which is zero or nearly zero, wherein the oblique conveyor is located adjacent said first conveyor and said elements on the endless conveying means comprise grabbing means which engage the pieces of timber and pull them in their longitudinal direction. 